Sports

By Jason Hoekema In the jumble of the athletic programs taking place at Ava High School, there is an unsung group of youth who stand for hours cheering for their classmates on the field and court.  Leading them for the last three years has been Camryn Lee, a four-year dance team and cheer squad member…

By Jason Hoekema / [email protected] SALEM – The Bears keep going, passing teams in the South Central Association Conference one at a time. So far, the Bears have taken five opponents down and have two left to claim the crown.  Mountain Grove fell first with the Bears winning 77-48. Then followed Willow Springs (55-37), Thayer…

By Jason Hoekema / [email protected] MANSFIELD – A couple of interesting changes occurred Thursday with Ava High School’s, 56-45, win over Mansfield.  First, this is the first “W” Ava has picked up from the Lions since a, 54-44, victory in 2014.  Secondly, this year’s team has met the 17-win highs set in 1992 by Coach…

By Jason Hoekema / [email protected] CABOOL – In the final week of regular season basketball the Lady Bears continue with a full schedule. Monday they competed in the dog house at Cabool and dropped the game, 56-46. False Security The Lady Bears took the first quarter, 12-7, in a start where Sara Mendel came up…

By Jason Hoekema / [email protected] HOUSTON – If you made the trip through Cabool to see the Bears in action against SCA competitor, the Houston Tigers, you probably felt uneasy after the Bears start on the road.  Eventually the feelings of uncertainty were wiped clean once the Bears got their footing and left Houston behind…

By Jason Hoekema / [email protected] NORWOOD–The Lady Pirates and Lady Bears have met before. At the Cabool tournament earlier this year, Ava topped Norwood with a definitive, 50-34, final score. Stepping into the Lady Pirates’ cave Monday, the Lady Bears we not the same team from the tournament.  Instead, the Lady Pirates ran the second…

By Jason Hoekema / [email protected] SALEM–It was a back-and-forth game last Thursday in Salem. The Ava High School Lady Bears tied the game, led the game, trailed in the game and ultimately fell, 54-48, to the Salem Lady Tigers.  Walking in on the game one could see the scoreboard racking up the fouls for both…

By Jason Hoekema / [email protected] With Hoopcoming out of the way the Ava High School Bears looked at the task ahead of them. The Thayer Bobcats.  Ava hasn’t come out on top against the Bobcats since 2013 when they took to the road for a narrow, 48-44, victory. Since then the Bears have taken losses…